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CVE-2018-12551· NVD / CVE Program· CNA eclipse

When Eclipse Mosquitto version 1.0 to 1.5.5 (inclusive) is configured to use a password file for authentication, any malformed data in the p

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 32/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 1.4% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 73.6% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.
  • Fixed version: mosquitto (Alpine:v3.10) 1.5.6-r0; mosquitto (Alpine:v3.7) 1.4.15-r1; mosquitto (Alpine:v3.8) 1.4.15-r4.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to mosquitto (Alpine:v3.10) 1.5.6-r0; mosquitto (Alpine:v3.7) 1.4.15-r1; mosquitto (Alpine:v3.8) 1.4.15-r4 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

When Eclipse Mosquitto version 1.0 to 1.5.5 (inclusive) is configured to use a password file for authentication, any malformed data in the password file will be treated as valid. This typically means that the malformed data becomes a username and no password. If this occurs, clients can circumvent authentication and get access to the broker by using the malformed username. In particular, a blank line will be treated as a valid empty username. Other security measures are unaffected. Users who have only used the mosquitto_passwd utility to create and modify their password files are unaffected by this vulnerability.

HighCVSS 8.1 · v3.0—No exploit Fix available
Published
Mar 27, 2019
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
1.4% · 73th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

32

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
32 / 40 · 8.1 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 1.4%

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

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When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
eclipsemosquitto

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • eclipse mosquitto1.0 and later · up to 1.5.5 inclusive

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (eclipse). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • The Eclipse Foundation Eclipse Mosquitto

    • 1.0 and later · before unspecifiedaffected
    • unspecified and later · up to and including 1.5.5affected

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Alpine:v3.10mosquittofrom 1.0 · before 1.5.6-r01.5.6-r0
Alpine:v3.7mosquittofrom 1.0 · before 1.4.15-r11.4.15-r1
Alpine:v3.8mosquittofrom 1.0 · before 1.4.15-r41.4.15-r4
Debian:12mosquittobefore 1.5.6-11.5.6-1
Debian:8mosquittobefore 1.3.4-2+deb8u41.3.4-2+deb8u4
Debian:9mosquittobefore 1.4.10-3+deb9u31.4.10-3+deb9u3
SUSE:Package Hub 15mosquittobefore 1.4.15-bp150.3.3.11.4.15-bp150.3.3.1

Same product

eclipse: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2024-10525Eclipse Mosquito: Heap Buffer Overflow in my_subscribe_callback
    46Plan
  • CVE-2018-12543In Eclipse Mosquitto versions 1.5 to 1.5.2 inclusive, if a message is published to Mosquitto that has a topic starting with $, but that is n
    41Plan
  • CVE-2018-12550When Eclipse Mosquitto version 1.0 to 1.5.5 (inclusive) is configured to use an ACL file, and that ACL file is empty, or contains only comme
    32Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2018-20145Dec 13, 2018 · Eclipse Mosquitto 1.5.x before 1.5.5 allows ACL bypass: if the option per_listener_settings was set to true, and the default listener was in
    30Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2018-12546Mar 27, 2019 · In Eclipse Mosquitto version 1.0 to 1.5.5 (inclusive) when a client publishes a retained message to a topic, then has its access to that top
    26Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2017-7655Mar 27, 2019 · In Eclipse Mosquitto version from 1.0 to 1.4.15, a Null Dereference vulnerability was found in the Mosquitto library which could lead to cra
    31Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
alpine:mosquitto1.5.6-r0 · Alpine:v3.10Package registry (OSV)
debian:mosquitto1.5.6-1 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)
suse:mosquitto1.4.15-bp150.3.3.1 · SUSE:Package Hub 15Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-703 · Improper Check or Handling of Exceptional Conditions

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records